Michelle Obama Was Told Not to Apply to Prestigious Colleges Because She’s a Girl

Back in March, Michelle Obama announced her Let Girls Learn initiative, aimed at promoting efforts to educate girls around the world. Globally, 62 million girls are not in school. And for those numbers to drop, as they should, worldwide change needs to be effected.

Continuing her campaign, in November Michelle gave the keynote speech at the World Innovation Summit for Education in the capital of Qatar and shared personal experiences about how being a girl affected her education.

"Back when I was a girl, even though I was bright and curious, and I had plenty of opinions of my own, people were often more interested in hearing what my brother had to say. And my parents didn't have much money; neither of them had a university degree," she said. "So when I got to school, I sometimes encountered teachers who assumed that a girl like me wouldn't be a good student. I was even told that I would never be admitted to a prestigious university, so I shouldn't even bother to apply."

Afterward, she talked to Cosmopolitan about the importance of getting girls in every country the education they deserve. “They all have just as much promise and potential as my daughters, as I had when I was that age.”

Though there have been advancements in primary education for children of all genders, secondary school brings a big dropoff in the number of girls enrolled. And that secondary education makes a huge difference. Lower infant mortality rates, lower rates of HIV/AIDS, and better child nutrition tend to be boasted by countries with more girls in secondary education. Plus, girls who go beyond primary school are six times less likely to be forced into child marriage than girls without education.

But it’s not just about infrastructure, it’s also about changing attitudes about women that keep them out of classrooms. "While we need to invest in resources like bathrooms and school fees and uniforms and safe transportation," Michelle said, "we also need to work on cultural norms that devalue girls, that only value them for their bodies and not for their minds. That takes a lot of work."

But it's work that's necessary for the millions of girls without access to education. While we all complain about school and homework from time to time, there's no doubt that we're super lucky to be able to learn. It's time for every girl to have that right.